German WW2 ECM (Electronic Countermeasures)
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- • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • German WW2 ECM (Electronic Countermeasures) Adam Farson VA7OJ 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 1 Glossary of terms - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • Common acronyms: SIGINT: SIGnals INTelligence COMINT: COMmunications INTelligence (communications between people or entities) ELINT: ELectronics INTelligence (electronic signals not directly used in communications e.g. radar, radio-navigation) ECM: Electronic CounterMeasures ECCM: Electronic Counter-CounterMeasures EW: Electronic Warfare (encompasses all the above) System designators: AI: Airborne Interception radar ASV: Air to Surface Vessel radar CD: Coastal Defence radar CH: Chain Home radar (CHL = Chain Home Low) D/F: Direction Finding Huff-Duff: High Frequency D/F H2S: British 3 GHz radar with PPI (plan-position indicator) display (possible abbreviation for “Home Sweet Home”) H2X: US 10 GHz variant of H2S 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 2 Scope of presentation - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • Detection, interception & analysis Communications vs. radar monitoring Direction-finding Examples of COMINT, ELINT, SIGINT sites Radar detection VHF/UHF & microwave radar detectors & threat receivers Land, shipboard & airborne systems Notes on German microwave technology Jamming & spoofing: Radio communications: HF, VHF Navaids: GEE, OBOE Radar: VHF/UHF, 3 GHz, 10 GHz Equipment examples A case history: Operation Channel Dash (Cerberus) 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 3 COMINT/ELINT/SIGINT - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • Communications monitoring HF and VHF land, sea and air radio interception Decryption; content analysis, distribution to client agencies Analysis of signals and equipment signatures Radar monitoring Signal evaluation; pulse rate, spectral & signature analysis Location of fixed radar sites Identification of land, sea and airborne radars COMINT/ELINT/SIGINT clients Countermeasures developers and operators Tactical and strategic intelligence agencies Field signals and radar formations Naval and air force ECM units 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 4 Comms vs. radar monitoring a question of bandwidth - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • Comms emissions & nominal bandwidths (in WW2) A1A (CW), ≈ 150 Hz A3E (AM) voice, 6 kHz F3E (FM), 36 kHz F1B (FSK) RTTY, 350 Hz Radar emissions & nominal bandwidths CW/FM: 100 kHz – 1 MHz Doppler: 100 kHz – 1 MHz Pulsed: 1 – 10 MHz Receiver requirements differ radically: Comms: freq. ranges 0.1 – 75, 100 – 156, 225 – 400 MHz (typ.) CW, AM & FM detectors VHF/UHF radar: 20 – 40, 100 – 400, 400 – 800 MHz (typ.) CW, FM & pulse detectors Microwave radar: 3 – 18 GHz; pulse detectors 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 5 Direction-finding (D/F) an essential part of SIGINT - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • Interceptors needed to locate the source of the enemy signal as accurately as possible Omni-directional and highly directional antennas were used in combination to read bearing of signal Two or more sites could obtain position fix Same RX & antenna served for D/F and monitoring Comms D/F antennas: HF: Adcock (4 verticals & goniometer) HF: Rotatable loop VHF: Yagi or corner reflector on rotatable mount Radar D/F antennas: “Mattress” dipole array (rotary or fixed to ship superstructure) Rotatable corner reflector (VHF/UHF) Yagi array on aircraft nose Microwave: horn, dielectric (polyrod), parabolic dish Rotatable, or fixed to land vehicle 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 6 An early ELINT mission - and its failures - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • On 2 August 1939, LZ130 Graf Zeppelin flew one of the first ELINT missions ever, off the British east coast with 25 RF engineers aboard. She was fitted with fairly broadband receivers covering 2 -100 MHz. Believing that Britain was developing radars in the same 100-150 MHz range as Germany, the team concentrated on that band. They never imagined that the British, limited by their tube technology, had developed a radar system (Chain Home, CH) working around 30 MHz. They picked up signals from the new 100 MHz R/T under development for the RAF, but strangely never followed this up! The German researchers picked up pulsed signals modulated by mains hum in the 20-50 MHz range, but discounted these as ionosonde signals or EMI from the UK national grid. In fact, as the British grid was synchronous, the 250 kW peak pulse CH transmitters were keyed from different points on the 50 Hz mains cycle to avoid co-channel interference between stations. This clever synchronization scheme totally misled the Germans! 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 7 Naval shipboard SIGINT/ELINT centre Source: Fritz Trenkle - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • Prinz Eugen ECM centre in foretop. Table: R&S SAMOS receiver (80 – 480 MHz) & W.Anz g2 spectrum analyzer (146-254MHz). Bulkhead above table: 3 Naxos radar detectors (3 GHz). Source: Fritz Trenkle. Spectrum analyzer display 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 8 Typical mobile COMINT station Images courtesy LA6NCA - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • Interior: Operator at EP2a RX (75 kHz - 3.3 MHz). The interceptors passed their data to the ECM (jamming) unit via HF CW, with Enigma encryption. This was often most helpful to Allied ECCM if the traffic was decrypted in time. Left: D/F antenna. Right: HF TX antenna. 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 9 Early radar detectors: Metox, Naxos - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • From 1940, RAF sub-hunter aircraft were fitted with 1.5m Mk. II ASV (Air to Surface Vessel) radar (180-210 MHz). Mk. II ASV could detect a U-boat at 20 km range. For night ops, a Leigh light (a powerful searchlight steered by the radar) was also fitted. The radar operator switched on the light when radar returns were lost, trapping the U-boat and allowing visual attack. Metox beeped on detecting radar pulses. The beep rate doubled when the radar operator switched to a higher PRF at closer range, alerting the U- boat to imminent attack. This allowed the boat to crash-dive in time. Rumours that the Allies were locating U-boats via Metox LO leakage proved untrue – but triggered orders to shut the system down fleet-wide! The advent of 3 GHz H2S radar in 1943 neutralized Metox, so the German side developed the Naxos series. The US 10 GHz H2X radar deployed by the RAF in 1945, rendered Naxos useless. This is the nature of EW; measure, countermeasure, counter-countermeasure without end. 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 10 Examples of radar SIGINT: FuMB 1 Metox Source: Fritz Trenkle - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • FuMB 1 Metox: fitted to U-boats to detect British ASV radar (180-210 MHz) Receiver Newer U-boat mounted Bali circular dipole (90-470 MHz). RX interior Biscay Cross antenna: erected above conning-tower hatch & taken below prior to dive! Bali antenna replaced it. 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 11 FuG 227 Flensburg detector: countermeasure to RAF Monica (FuG: Funkgerät = radio equipment) - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • Brightness Focus Flensburg cockpit display Flensburg was a threat receiver fitted to Luftwaffe night-fighters in Spring 1944, and tuned to the 300 MHz emissions of the RAF Monica tail-warning radar. It had good sensitivity and angular discrimination, and enabled the fighter pilot to pick out a single bomber even in a stream, radiating multiple Monica signals. Flensburg caused such an escalation in bomber losses that RAF Bomber Command ordered withdrawal of Monica from all its aircraft. Similar measures reduced the use of H2S radar sets until the bombers were within 25 km of their targets. 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 12 Examples of radar SIGINT: FuMB 11 – 17 Korfu ground stations (FuMB: Funkmeßbeobachtung = radar monitoring) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • FuMB- 11 - – 17 Korfu - - was -a superhet - system - - - - - covering the microwave bands 1.6-7.5 GHz, later 7.5-11 and even 11.5-17.7 GHz. It was developed by Blaupunkt Radio GmbH. It gave bearings of aircraft operating H2S/H2X radar. Kornax-X, with a rotating polyrod antenna, covered the 10 GHz band and was able to detect RAF and USAAF bombers assembling over the English coast, 550 km away. Another variant, Naxburg, used the Würzburg ground radar dish to increase gain. 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 13 Korfu microwave radar threat receiver Source: Arthur O. Bauer - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • Plug-in tuning units cover 3 and 10 GHz bands. Front end consists of semiconductor diodes (NF > 26 dB!) and a split- anode magnetron LO. 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 14 The Naxos Z Series: U-boat, surface ship & airborne variants Sources: Fritz Trenkle, Arthur O. Bauer - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • Directional display Rotating polyrod antenna Distant Near (Clear plastic radome removed) Naxos Display & Receiver 17 October 2013 NSARC – German WW2 ECM 15 The Naxos Z Series: Block diagram Source: Fritz Trenkle - • - • - - • - - • • • • • • - • - - • • • - • • • • • - • Naxos was a wideband, untuned detector-type receiver – in effect, a crystal set. Initially, a ceramic HPF was fitted as shown, but this Coax was later removed to improve sensitivity